a husband win

Two weeks ago I found a Groupon deal (that apparently is ALWAYS a Groupon deal) for $5 tickets to any movie at Studio Movie Grill. Naturally I bought 4 and then bought 4 tickets to Catching Fire on the Friday it opened. One text later to my friend Haylie and we had a double date planned. 

Except when I told A about it, he responded with "sorry, we can't do that. I have a surprise planned." I immediately jumped to thinking that there was NO WAY his surprise would be better than Catching Fire and I begggggggged for him to change it. He repeatedly stated that he could not reschedule the surprise and I repeatedly made a fit about it. He's so lucky.

Friday rolled around and he made reservations to Crisp, a cute pizza/wine bar about 20 feet from our house. Don't get me wrong, I love the place (and their Texas Goat Cheese app - goat cheese mixed with marinara, soft garlic and basil served with drunken garlic bread for dipping…my mouth is watering), but we'd been there twice prior and for such a HUGE surprise, I expected something new. Also he let it slip that he had only made the reservation THAT NIGHT. So naturally I was fuming the entire dinner that the surprise was just a stupid (ok, yummy) dinner that he TOTALLY could have rescheduled! 

We got home and I proceeded to almost fall asleep on our bed but couldn't because I was still SO MAD. 

Then the doorbell rang. Which it never does because our house is gated, meaning that the only doorbell rings we get are from our neighbors and I knew they were out of town. I stomped down the stairs because A magically disappeared and opened the door….then I screamed and shut it only to immediately open it back up with tears in my eyes. 

The little stinker and my best friend planned the best surprise ever. And yes, I HAD NO CLUE. I am very hard to surprise because I do everything in my power to figure it out before hand. Alex lives in Shreveport and I don't get to see her as often as I did when we lived in Lafayette. Plus she had never been to Houston to see our new house and I just missed her dang it! So yes, this was a HUGE husband win.

Right after she arrived we went out in Midtown. I'm pretty sure we were home by midnight…we are definitely NOT in college anymore.

Saturday morning we treated Alex to the best breakfast tacos known to mankind. SERIOUSLY, if you live in or are ever in Houston, go to Chilosos and thank me later. They deep fry the bacon!! I MEAN. Then we lounged (so maybe we had headaches…) and of course I had to take her to 19th street and do a little antiquing. 

I didn't get this but I am already planning on going back tonight to pick it up. It's even real silver! Wouldn't this look so adorable in a little girls room??

The LSU game was an afternoon game (also extremely cold and rainy - SO glad we decided not to go) so Meg (the lone aggie) and Mo-Reese came over to watch it with us. We nibbled on some dip of the Gods (aka Charleston Cheese Dip) but when the game was over we were all starving, so we decided to try out Hickory Hollow, a BBQ place in our neighborhood. The second we walked in it was like we were not in Houston any longer. It was the cutest little place ever, complete with JUMBO mason jars to drink your sweet tea out of. So cute.

So, A, I have to give it to you, you pulled off one heck of a surprise! I'll try and remember how awesome you were this weekend next time you leave the seat up.

some good decisions

I feel like I have been on a roll lately. I was in a slump for a while (hello blogging break) and couldn't get out of it, but when I started my new job it's like a switch was flipped and everything is happy and sunny again. It's amazing what happens when you actually change out of your pajamas in the morning and go somewhere.

The decision to get a new job in an actual office was just the start. I decided to make a list (they're all the rage right now, right, Buzzfeed?) of some other good (and silly) decisions I have made lately.

1. Buying this champagne. Kroger (THERE IS NO S AT THE END, A) has a clearance bin when you first walk in, and this just so happened to be in there.

Tell me - how could you pass that up? YOU CAN'T. Especially when it's only $8.99. It was really good, too. Not too sweet and not too bitter, just perfect. An added bonus? The winery just so happens to be south of Houston! I've already made plans to take Ashley and Alexa when they come to Houston in (OMG!!!!) less than 60 days. 

2. Buying the nest. Yep, we gave in. The A/C company allowed us to return the cheap-o one we bought from them, so we upgraded to the nest. I haven't gotten to play with it much, but it's just so fancy and adorable (can an electronic device be called that?) and can be controlled from my phone! Yes, I am nerding out over this and I am not ashamed. 

3. Finding this blog. You are welcome and I apologize personally to your boss because you won't get any work done after clicking over to this gem. Just TRY and stop reading after one post, I dare you.

4. Buying this skirt. 

The pattern is just so Christmassy and I feel like a Catholic school girl every time I wear it. Four for you, J.Crew Factory. You go J.Crew Factory!

5. Spending time with my little Reid man. Okay, so this isn't exactly a recent new decision per say, but I always leave a little happier and with a big smile on my face, so I guess each time I choose to go over (or in last night's case, am asked ever so nicely to come help because my BIL lost his keys at the hospital and my sister was at a work dinner and the nanny had to go home…phew!) is a good decision. I mean, just look at him! So what if right when I walked in he took one look at me and said NO KIKI! GO HOME KIKI!

6. Starting an ISPY membership. 

Oh, and getting the world's cutest coffee mug from Starbuck's. I am no make-up girl. I don't really even know how to put it on…or what products to buy. But I do know that Ipsy is the greatest thing to happen to mail and that I will FOR SURE use every product in the bag, and I actually needed new bronzer so it's pretty perfect I would say.

7. Buying Bowden this "tom brady" sweater. So what if it means he hates me? 

8. Last but not least because it's actually my favorite thing I've done in a while…hiring a maid. It's not that I hate cleaning (ok maybe it is), I hate DEEP cleaning. I would rather do soooo many other things than devote an entire Saturday to cleaning our house. I can keep up day to day, but let's face it…Norma is way better than I am at deep cleaning. I walked in our house Monday and couldn't take the smile off my face for hours. Yes, I know it's a luxury. Yes, I know one day we might need to devote the money we're spending for her to come once a month so something else. But gosh darn, I'm going to enjoy it while we can have this luxury. And it's really not that bad since she's only coming once a month, right?

five on friday

First week at the new job is done! It was a great week, although I still have trouble remembering that I am done with the old job…the stress is oddly still there. I'm hoping that goes away soon!

I have a ton of blog post ideas, but I am still trying to figure out the new schedule, so those will stay as ideas for now. Today we shall celebrate Friday!

1. I am now a full-fledged Scandal ADDICT. Addict may not even be a strong enough word for it. Just looking at this picture gets me excited. If you don't watch it, don't worry, I have a post coming with reasons why you should be. Too far?

2. We have some pretty amazing plans for tonight. They involve a blow up kiddie pool, hot chocolate and pizza. If you read here when I first started the blog, you've seen/know what I am talking about, but in case you didn't, I'll have a full update next week. It also might involve watching Scandal season one again. Last night Andre' said it was stupid and Kerry over-acts, so now I am on a mission to prove him wrong.

3. We found out last week that A's sister is having a boy! This makes nephew number three. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my little nephews and boys are so so so much fun, but come ON, I need a niece! I need a cute little bambino to put bows on. Guess that means I will have to be the one to have the girl. We did realize that all sisters have girl dogs and boy babies. We have a boy dog so that means girl babies. BOOM - science. I know that nephew number three will be adorable and I may have already gone crazy shopping for him - boy clothes are cute too!! - but someone please, give me a baby girl.

4. I'm still mad at my BFF Jen for cutting her hair, but that didn't stop me from buying tickets for Catching Fire. Although I am still mad that I can't go to the double feature on Thursday because it starts at 5 and I get off work at 5. NOT COOL.

5. The media can try all they want, Famous Jameis did nothing wrong and I still love him with all my heart. Go noles and a big ole screw you to the gator who leaked the story 11 months after the fact. 

brrr, it's cold in here

…there must be some Toro's in the atmosphere! Anyone else get that in there head every time someone says it's cold in here/there? Every. Single. Time.

Growing up it was a well known rule that you do NOT touch the thermostat. There might as well have been a lock box around it. My mom got away with it when we were younger, because we were naive and believed that she was always so cold in the summer but it somehow didn't bother her during the winter…riiiiiight. 

Now we know that it was all in an attempt to save money. In the summer, the house was always 78 degrees and who even knows what it was during the winter, I just became used to bundling up under 3 + blankets. When we lived in Lafayette and visited, we would sneak over to the thermostat and lower it, only to wake up and be afraid to face the wrath of my mother. Hi mom! I still love you.

Now that we have our own house, I carried some of her mentality over with me…I was convinced that our electricity bill was going to be out of CONTROL because she's always told me theirs is when we make the slightest change. Add on the fact that we have a three story house and you get anxiety. Or is that just me? Imagine my surprise when our first electricity bill - which was in the month of June in HOUSTON - was only $90.00. Say wha? It is a new house, and my parents is an older home, so maybe that is the difference? Or maybe my dear sweet mother has just been lying to us this whole time!

You may remember back in August (or was it September?) that our air conditioning broke. It wasn't that big of a deal, I moved my office down to the first floor because that A/C still worked, but we needed it fixed because the kitchen is on the second floor and cooking without an A/C in the heat of Houston sounds like a death wish. It could have been worse - it ended up being only $500 - I was bracing myself for $2000. So we paid it and moved on. 

They came back a few weeks ago to install one more part on it and mentioned something about how the heat wasn't working because it was on gas and it needed to be on electricity. Blah blah, in one ear and out the other. It would be a while until we needed heat, right?

Ehhh…wrong. A cold front came through on Monday and A went to turn the heat on…and nothing. But wait! Lightbulb! What did they say about gas/electricity? Switch that! Still nothing? Oh great. 

I have no problems keeping the house cool during the summer (ok, and spring and fall and most of winter, we do live in Houston), but my inner Barb starts screaming during the winter. I will wait as long as I can until I turn that heat on. I would rather sleep with five blankets than turn the heat on - and anyways, it's extremely comfortable to do that!

A, surprise surprise, disagrees with me. 

I wanted to just pile on the blankets and pretend that nothing was wrong with our heater. A apparently did not, because I got a call yesterday that the technician was about to be at our house to take a look at it. Awesome! Goodbye money!

It turned out to not be that bad again, the thermostat was broken and wasn't registering anything when we switched it to heat. So $179 later, we have heat. For the five days that we need it this winter, we will be all right. But now I'm mad that we had to pay $179 for a crappy ugly thermostat when the Nest is only $100 more. It's just so fancy looking! Does anyone have one and love it? Necessary? I mean really, Kaitlyn, how hard is it to turn it on yourself? But it would be so fun to control it from my phone! Technologyyyyyy!

has it really been a year?

 

On a very boring Wednesday last fall, I wrote this post, and with that, put a bow on it the blog was born.

 

It's funny to look back through at the comments - and my replies because I was such a newbie and didn't know to reply via email. I can pin-point my now friends first comments. I'm looking at you EBD's - such a simple act that led to such an amazing friendship!

 

I honestly thought I missed this day when I took my break for the past month, and had no clue when I started blogging again this week that the "big day" was today. I guess it was just meant to be!

 

In honor of this day, here's a few things that I have learned & what blogging has taught me.

 

1. Blogging is HARD. I did not expect this one. Thinking of something interesting to write about every single day is tough. Creating a blog that people are excited to come back and read is tough. You have to put forth effort to get things out of this.

 

2. For the most part, the blogging community is extremely supportive. Girls come together to help out girls that they haven't ever met. It's pretty amazing.

 

3. FRIENDS! I didn't think when I got into this that I would be able to call a small handful of other bloggers best friends a year later. I am so blessed to have them in my life. To think I never would have met them without this makes me sad & happy. A has even gained friends from this!

 

4. Blogging is also really weird. It's hard to put this one into words, but I think most everyone would agree with me. So I'll just leave it at that.

 

There's plenty more where that came from, but I'm not in the rambling mood this morning. I'm way too excited for 5pm when I get to find out if our newest family addition is a boy or a girl! NO, I'm not pregnant (although it's not shocking I guess if you think that, most bloggers who take a month off come back with a baby bump), A's sister is! This little bundle makes niece/nephew number three for us...and although I love little boys (seriously! I do!), I am really hoping for a little girl. Think of how many cute bows I could buy her!!!

my hips don't lie

No, I'm not Shakira. I'm just a normal girl trying to find some pant for work.

Even when I worked in an office, I never had to wear them. It was a really casual environment and I wore jeans or a dress every day. Now that I need some, the only pair in my closet is from when I was 17 years old. They miraculously (HOW??) still fit, but I need some nicer pairs if people are going to take me seriously.

So yesterday I set off during lunch on a mission: a mission to find two nice pairs of pants. The old pair I have is from Gap, so I went there first. Maybe the Gap here is just a bad one, but they had THREE pairs in the whole store. They do have TONS more online, but I believe pants are things you need to try on first. Off to Banana I went. They had more styles than Gap, so I grabbed a few and went to try them on.

THAT WAS A MISTAKE.

Apparently Banana pants are made for people who don't have an ounce of hip on their body. You've got a little junk in the trunk? Fagetaboutit. How is it possible for one pair of pants to ruin a day? I found out - said pair of pants will add so much weight to your hip area that you run out of the dressing room and run to a gym.

This is where I need your help! Where do you buy pants? But not only that, where do you buy pants that ACTUALLY LOOK GOOD? Because if I can't find any, I've already decided that I'm destined to wear a skirt or a dress every day. And I do not have that many skirts! Please, help a friend out.

the bow is back

The good thing about taking forever and a day off from blogging is that you are stock FULL of interesting things to write about. The bad thing is that you feel super disconnected and like you lost a lot of friends all at once. So with that, I'm back!

Lots has gone on since I last appeared in your blog roll - which is a good thing because MAN, my life would be really boring if nothing happened while I took my hiatus.

The top news has to be that this Friday is my last day with my current job. Yes, my whole family thinks I am insane for giving up the working from home gig...but I say, until you do it, you don't know how much it is NOT FUN. Especially when you have a job where you have to be behind the computer from 8-5. So no, mom, I am not going to miss doing my laundry during the day because I never once had time to do that.

And honestly, I really miss dressing nice. Victoria's secret boyfriend sweat pants that make your butt look 5 times it's size? Those aren't nice. So I have taken these last two weeks and made them "re-stock your wardrobe" weeks. It's been really fun, to me, not to my bank account. But it's necessary...right? Right.

new booties. it only took me a year to gain the courage to buy a pair and rock them...

new fall maxi. RUN to your local Old Navy and buy this...as long as you are no taller than 5'3"

I might have worn this every day since I got it. GIVE ME ALL THE VESTS.

 

There's more, but we'll leave it at that for now...only because I have an excuse now to throw in a few OOTD pics every so often. Good thing I bought that full length mirror when we moved!